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Today marks 18 months since my wife’s hemorrhagic stroke in February 2017. She was 49 years old at the time and in perfect health. No warning signs, no symptoms, no family history of stroke, no risk factors.
We had been married only 11 years (both on our second marriage) and had a then 9-year-old daughter. My wife, known throughout this blog as “J” was with our daughter when the stroke occurred.
I’ll provide background on the stroke specifics in a later post but suffice it to say this was a severe event, and and the survival rate for this type of stroke is less than 50%. Nonetheless, J survived and now here we are a year and a half later.
So why start a blog now? Well, first of all, I finally feel like I have some time to spend writing. I want this to be a valuable resource to caregivers, especially male caregivers, I take these blog posts seriously, and that takes time.
Second, I have gained a lot of knowledge since the stroke and now I’m ready to share it. I’ve learned about the medical condition, insurance, dealing with medical providers, therapy, products, technology, and more. I don’t profess to be an expert but I hope to let you benefit from my journey — I intend to provide the resource I wish I had.
Finally, you should know that I’m writing this blog using a pseudonym and intend to keep confidential the names of my wife and daughter to protect our privacy. I will post real reviews, analysis, and links for the products, services, and organizations that I have found useful during this journey. And, while I am targetting this blog towards male caregivers given my unique perspective as a male, I hope that all who find themselves in this role will benefit from the blog.
I welcome your interactions so don’t hesitate to write to me. At some point, I may include a community forum within the site.
–ML